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Just thought that some Grapes might be nosey/interested in my 'procedure' yesterday (being as we have some Grapes in medical training etc)...
OK, my sister has Lymphoma, and is chemo-resistant. Pretty much the only thing left to try is a stem cell transplant, in order to change her immune system (to provoke an immune v. malignancy response).
Luckily, I'm a DNA match (as a sibling donor, there is only a 1 in 24 chance that I match).
The procedure from my end is:
Go to Christies after all tests have been completed.
I'm then hooked up to a Cell Seperator machine (first pic). It's basically nothing more than a huge centrifuge.
I've got a line in each arm - my left arm is the 'out' line, and has a tourniquet on it for the duration; and muct be kept completely still. My right is a bendy cannula in my hand - where the blood comes back to me - and can be moved.
Picture 2 is a not very good pic of my blood in the machine. Despite appearances, there is only every about 300-400ml out of yor body at once!
Once the centrifuge is full, it spins to seperate the blood. Once the blood is seperated, it draws off the stem cells. For every 400ml of blood, there is only about 5ml of stem cells - and that's after increasing my cell count!
On an interesting note - the machine can seperate out any part of your blood for collection - white cells, platelets, plasma, stem cells. It's computer controlled, so you just have to tell it what you want!
I was on the machine for about 5 hours, and in that time, my entire blood supply went through the machine twice.
I did need a calcium drip though. Due to the anti-coagulant given to me (to stop blood clotting in the machine) this strips calcium out of your blood, which can make you quite faint/tingly etc and if not addressed can lead to heart problems. I started to feel tingly, so they hooked me up to a calcium drip and I was fine. (It's a common side effect).
Picture 3 is my stem cells! There are about 6 million of them in that bag, along with a few other cells (plasma etc). My sister's dose is calcuated on her weight, own bone marrow density etc. She only needs about 4 million cells.
Her current drug regimen has been to dampen her immune system to introduce my cells. Hopefully (and this is the layman's version) my cells will take over her bone marrow and start fighting the cancer. There are all sorts of other issues to consider for her medical team, including rejection etc; but in the simplest terms, they hope to provoke an immune response from my cells.
So, it took a day in hospital for me - that's all. I feel pretty knackered and a bit woozy, but actually that's it. A day of R&R and I should be fine.
OK, my sister has Lymphoma, and is chemo-resistant. Pretty much the only thing left to try is a stem cell transplant, in order to change her immune system (to provoke an immune v. malignancy response).
Luckily, I'm a DNA match (as a sibling donor, there is only a 1 in 24 chance that I match).
The procedure from my end is:
Go to Christies after all tests have been completed.
I'm then hooked up to a Cell Seperator machine (first pic). It's basically nothing more than a huge centrifuge.
I've got a line in each arm - my left arm is the 'out' line, and has a tourniquet on it for the duration; and muct be kept completely still. My right is a bendy cannula in my hand - where the blood comes back to me - and can be moved.
Picture 2 is a not very good pic of my blood in the machine. Despite appearances, there is only every about 300-400ml out of yor body at once!
Once the centrifuge is full, it spins to seperate the blood. Once the blood is seperated, it draws off the stem cells. For every 400ml of blood, there is only about 5ml of stem cells - and that's after increasing my cell count!
On an interesting note - the machine can seperate out any part of your blood for collection - white cells, platelets, plasma, stem cells. It's computer controlled, so you just have to tell it what you want!
I was on the machine for about 5 hours, and in that time, my entire blood supply went through the machine twice.
I did need a calcium drip though. Due to the anti-coagulant given to me (to stop blood clotting in the machine) this strips calcium out of your blood, which can make you quite faint/tingly etc and if not addressed can lead to heart problems. I started to feel tingly, so they hooked me up to a calcium drip and I was fine. (It's a common side effect).
Picture 3 is my stem cells! There are about 6 million of them in that bag, along with a few other cells (plasma etc). My sister's dose is calcuated on her weight, own bone marrow density etc. She only needs about 4 million cells.
Her current drug regimen has been to dampen her immune system to introduce my cells. Hopefully (and this is the layman's version) my cells will take over her bone marrow and start fighting the cancer. There are all sorts of other issues to consider for her medical team, including rejection etc; but in the simplest terms, they hope to provoke an immune response from my cells.
So, it took a day in hospital for me - that's all. I feel pretty knackered and a bit woozy, but actually that's it. A day of R&R and I should be fine.
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